Foods to Fight the Blues

Find out what foods can boost your mood and help fight depression.

One in twenty Americans suffers from depression. If you’re feeling blue—or want to ward off feeling that way—there are
some foods to consider that might help. Studies have linked the foods on the following slides with helping people cope
with the blues. Here are some to try. (As with any health condition, you should, of course, consult your healthcare
provider for a full treatment plan.)

1. Coffee

A recent study which appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggested that women who drink coffee have lower rates
of depression. Sure, it was an association, which doesn’t prove that coffee was responsible for the lower rates of
depression, but it was a very large study (more than 50,000 women) that traced coffee intake and depression diagnoses
over the course of 14 years. As a registered dietitian and associate nutrition editor at EatingWell Magazine,
that’s strong enough evidence for me to say that if you already drink coffee, you can count this among the other
potential health boons to support your coffee habit.

2. Salmon

Omega-3 fatty acids help our brain cells communicate and enhance the concentration of dopamine and serotonin—two
neurotransmitters that help regulate mood. Seafood, such as salmon and sardines, is high in omega-3s, as are walnuts and
ground flaxseed. In one study, researchers found that participants who had lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids were
more likely to report mild or moderate symptoms of depression.

3. Saffron

Saffron, those expensive red threads that lend Persian cooking an intense golden color, may not be a spice you cook with
often. But using it could raise your spirits. As Joyce Hendley reported in EatingWell Magazine, saffron has long been
used in traditional Persian medicine as a mood lifter, usually steeped into a medicinal tea or used to prepare rice.
Tehran University of Medical Sciences researcher Shahin Akhondzadeh, Ph.D., has found that saffron has antidepressant
effects comparable to the antidepressants fluoxetine (Prozac) and imipramine (Tofranil), likely because it makes the
feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin more available to the brain (the same mechanism that makes Prozac work).

4. Carbs

Cutting out carbs can have an unintended consequence: a foul mood. Researchers suspect that’s because carbs promote the
production of serotonin. In a study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, people who followed a very low-carbohydrate
diet for a year—which allowed only 20 to 40 grams of carbs daily, about the amount in just 1/2 cup of rice plus one slice
of bread—experienced more depression, anxiety and anger than those assigned to a low-fat, high-carb diet that focused on
low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruit and beans.

5. Chocolate

Chocolate certainly brings a smile to my face. And there’s actually a scientific reason why! Chocolate’s antioxidants may
help lower levels of cortisol—the so-called stress hormone. Stressed-out people who ate 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate
daily for two weeks had lower levels of stress hormones, including cortisol, in a study done recently at the Nestlé
Research Center in Switzerland. Choose dark chocolate with the highest cacao content to get the most antioxidant—and be
mindful of the 230 calories in 1.4 ounces of chocolate.